Five App Store apps that make great gifts

Plants vs. Zombies 1

Here are five gift ideas to give a loved one this holiday season – or to spend those gift cards on the following week. Be sure to read the article for more information about these five apps.

Plants vs. Zombies, available for iPhone or iPad, will help you prepare for that coming zombie apocalypse. You'll need a setup in your backyard similar to this one to fend them off. Bruce Campbell would be proud.

Screen capture by Wally Bahny for TechRepublic

Plants vs. Zombies 2

When not defending your house, be sure to tend your Zen Garden.

Screen capture by Wally Bahny for TechRepublic

Documents 1

Documents has the ability to load text or spreadsheet documents from the local iPad, USB, WiFi, Email, Dropbox, or Google.

Screen capture by Wally Bahny for TechRepublic

Documents 2

The free version of Documents is limited to certain formatting features and file formats, but the paid version has many more options.

Screen capture by Wally Bahny for TechRepublic

Documents 3

Like the word processor, the spreadsheet feature is also limited in the free version. Pick up the paid version for a much more feature-rich spreadsheet app.

Screen capture by Wally Bahny for TechRepublic

Video Tube 1

Video Tube is an user-friendly way to browse and watch YouTube videos. It comes with several common views and, of course, the ability to search.

Screen capture by Wally Bahny for TechRepublic

Video Tube 2

While playing a video, you can see related videos and read the comments.

Screen capture by Wally Bahny for TechRepublic

Video Tube 3

Video Tube has several options for enhancing the user experience. For example, choose your default video quality based on your connection type.

Screen capture by Wally Bahny for TechRepublic

Home Budget 1

HomeBudget allows you to capture expenses and income as well as plan for bills and set up a budget.

Screen capture by Wally Bahny for TechRepublic

Home Budget 1

Entering a source of income or an expense is as easy or hard as you want it to be. Expenses, like the one above, allow you to categorize the expense and even split it between multiple categories. You can also specify the name of the Payee as well as which personal account you're drawing the money from.

Screen capture by Wally Bahny for TechRepublic

Cal Counter 1

Calorie Counter Plus helps you track food and activity very easily. Adding a food item is as simple as selecting it from a drill-down menu and then choosing the quantity consumed.

Screen capture by Wally Bahny for TechRepublic

Cal Counter 2

Activity is logged in a similar way as food. Other options available are the Diary which allows you to track body measurements and set up a weight loss plan. Finally, the Summary allows you to compare your actual results against the plan you set up.

Plants vs. Zombies 1

Here are five gift ideas to give a loved one this holiday season – or to spend those gift cards on the following week. Be sure to read the article for more information about these five apps.

Plants vs. Zombies, available for iPhone or iPad, will help you prepare for that coming zombie apocalypse. You'll need a setup in your backyard similar to this one to fend them off. Bruce Campbell would be proud.